


Linguistic Deconstructions

by TheBookshelfDweller



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Implied Johnlock, M/M, Names to letters, POV First Person, Personification, Word Play
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2013-09-30
Packaged: 2017-12-28 02:05:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBookshelfDweller/pseuds/TheBookshelfDweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I will break you down to letters. I'll take your names, both of them, and deconstruct them to their basic elements. [...]<br/>I’m here, between you, always. I will break you down to letters and spell my name using yours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Linguistic Deconstructions

**Author's Note:**

> I live surrounded by dictionaries, so this was bound to happen, really ;)
> 
> Enjoy! :)

* * *

I will break you down to letters. I'll take your names, both of them, and deconstruct them to their basic elements.

 

SHERLOCK HOLMES  JOHN WATSON

S H E R L O C K H O L M E S J O H N W A T S O N

Count them, sort them. 24 letters, a myriad of possibilities.

Sx3, Jx1, Hx3, Ex2, Rx1, Lx2, Ox4, Cx1, Kx1, Mx1, Nx2, Wx1, Ax1, Tx1

 

I will break you down to letters, only to build you back up – into words, into descriptions; associations, synonyms and antonyms of you – 24 words for each of you, and then 24 for both. I will make you into dictionary entries, in non-alphabetical order.

 

 **_ S _ ** _oliloquy, saviour, sagacity, junkie, hectic, **h** ubris, hero, ego, **e** loquence, **r** eckless, lonely, **l** uminosity, ostentatious, **o** bserve, obsession, outcast, **c** ircadian, **k** aleidoscopic, mystery, nicotine, nocturnal, work, acumen, theatrics_

_Stoicism, soldier, shield, **j** ustice, endurance, emotion, repair, limp, loyal, **o** ath, ordinance, organs, heal, honour, **h** umane, ordnance, contradiction, keyboard, moral, narrator, **n** ightmares, wit, ardent, temper_

_Sacrifice, spectacular, system, home, humour, help, equili **b** rium, evolution, juxtap **o** sition, reliance, life, liability, obs **t** inacy, omnivagant, outrig **h** t, observance, complementary, kismet, magnetism, need, nucleus, wonderment, adrenalin, trust_

Look at all the words your names hold. Astonishing, isn’t it? Together you make for the most exquisite lexicon, my pocket-edition Glossary of Two-That-Are-One. I could write upon every surface available and still fail to write them all, so let’s just stop here. 24+24+24, seventy-two words – let’s not be excessive. It would be of no use.

 

I will break you down to letters, and then build fragments and sentences out of you ( _for you_ ).

 

S H E R ~~L~~ ~~O~~ C ~~K~~ H ~~O~~ L ~~M~~ ~~E~~ S J O H N W ~~A~~ ~~T~~ S O N

LOOK AT ME _(I’m right here, between the two of you)_

~~S~~ ~~H~~ E R ~~L~~ ~~O~~ C ~~K~~ H ~~O~~ ~~L~~ ~~M~~ ~~E~~ S J O H N ~~W~~ ~~A~~ T S O N

SHOW ME ALL ( _I’ve already seen it all, witnessed it all – I’m always here, remember? – but show me anyway; all you are, all you could be. Show me.)_

~~S~~ ~~H~~ E R ~~L~~ ~~O~~ ~~C~~ K H O L ~~M~~ ~~E~~ S J ~~O~~ H N ~~W~~ ~~A~~ T ~~S~~ ~~O~~ N

A WHOLE COSMOS ( _You are a universe with laws of its own. A whole world, separate from everything else, and in it just the two of you, and I between.)_

~~S~~ H ~~E~~ ~~R~~ L ~~O~~ C K ~~H~~ O L M ~~E~~ S J ~~O~~ H ~~N~~ W A ~~T~~ S ~~O~~ ~~N~~

NO OTHER ONES ( _In the end you are a pair, a matching set. There is no space for anyone else – well, except for me. I’m always here.)_

S ~~H~~ ~~E~~ R L ~~O~~ C K H ~~O~~ L ~~M~~ ~~E~~ S J O H N ~~W~~ ~~A~~ ~~T~~ S O ~~N~~

HEAR ME NOW [TO] _(I’m hard to ignore. Are you listening? This is important, you don’t have all the time in the world.)_

~~S~~ H ~~E~~ ~~R~~ L O ~~C~~ ~~K~~ H O L M ~~E~~ S J ~~O~~ H ~~N~~ ~~W~~ ~~A~~ ~~T~~ S O N

KNOW A SECRET ( _It’s my secret, but I will tell you, if you hear me out. So, here it is: don’t waste time – time is limited. It’s fleeting. I’m here, always, but I can be altered, mangled, abused. Don’t do that.)_

S H ~~E~~ R ~~L~~ ~~O~~ C K H O ~~L~~ M ~~E~~ S J ~~O~~ H ~~N~~ W A ~~T~~ S O ~~N~~

TELL NO ONE ( _I’m only sharing it with you, this secret of mine. So tell no one else. This is between us, the way I am between you.)_

_LOOK AT ME! SHOW ME ALL – A WHOLE COSMOS, NO OTHER ONES. HEAR ME NOW TO KNOW A SECRET. TELL NO ONE.  
 _ Look – all I want to tell you, it is already there, in your names. You hold all the knowledge you will ever need, in the friction between consonants and vowels.

I’m here, between you, always. I will break you down to letters and spell my name using yours. Or, better say, I will try – there is a letter missing.

 

S H E R **(L)** O C K H O L M **(E)** S J **(O)** H N W A T S O N

**(L) (E) (O) (?)**

**L O (?) E**

Why is that? I know I'm here, and so do you. I'm between you two, constantly. I can match your step, your breathing and your voices; recite your words back to you, because I'm always there to hear them. But I can't spell my name with letters of yours, because one is missing. Why? Does it make a difference – I'm here anyway. Is that how you protect yourselves – by denying me a name? Very well, then. It doesn't change anything. I exist, anyway, name or not. I am me, no matter what you call me (or don’t). So, don’t name me – it’s inconsequential. I’m undeniable and unavoidable.

But it’s rude, don’t you think? That you get to have names, and I do not. Never mind that I don’t really need one. I want one. I deserve one – I gave you seventy-two words, I deserve at least one for myself. I told you my secret, now let me have my name.

So, let’s try again. I will break you down to letters – again. Who else are you? What else are you called?

How about your titles? You like those, wear them with pride. They are what brought you two together, then, when a medical man was needed at a crime scene, and a sleuth was waiting in the doorway, with a dead body calling him, and no assistant to provide expertise – that was the start. Your professional names. Yes, let’s try those.

 

CONSULTING DETECTIVE   ARMY DOCTOR

C O N S U **(L)** T I N G D E T **(E)** C T I **(V)** E A R M Y D **(O)** C T O R

**(L) (E) (V) (O)**

**L O V E**

See? I am here, between you, no matter what. I'll find my letters, always. Can’t you just call me by my name? Well, even if you don’t, even if you refuse, it’s all the same, really. I’m always here, named or not.

 

I will break you down to letters, only to build you back up – into You, into Me.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :)
> 
> P.S. In the list of words describing Sherlock, I used "circadian", as in "circadian rhythm", and I used it ironically, because Sherlock is the one person who ventures as far from a normal circadian rhythm as one can without keeling over. Hope that clears up any existing confusion :)


End file.
